


Not Even A Lie

by IntoThineHands



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe, Corruption, M/M, Manipulation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29839332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntoThineHands/pseuds/IntoThineHands
Summary: In which Annatar really is benevolent... as he sees it.
Relationships: Annatar/Celebrimbor | Telperinquar, Celebrimbor | Telperinquar/Sauron | Mairon
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Not Even A Lie

He whispers in Celebrimbor’s ear that he is surrounded by envy and folly, that those who criticize him begrudge him his vision, and that they are not worth the instant it takes to listen to them, much less any time spent brooding upon their words. It’s not even a lie. Not as far as he sees it.

He says, absently twisting his hair around his ring finger, that he has come to Middle-Earth in the pursuit of nothing but order and efficiency, with selfless dedication to the betterment of the world. It’s not even a lie. If his dedication were not selfless, he would never have bent the knee to the embodiment of disorder and inefficiency for the sake of advancing his cause. Aulë always used to say his greatest flaw was his stiffness of neck, his refusal to bend - and yet the Vala hadn’t seemed so approving when he _had_ bent, hmm? Ironic.

He confesses that he holds Celebrimbor in high esteem, perhaps more so than anyone else in Middle-Earth. It’s not even a lie. The sublime disaster that was the greatest of the Valar dwells in Middle-Earth no longer, and, of those that remain in this land, Celebrimbor is the most competent. He is intelligent, disciplined, and ambitious - almost Mannishly so, but without Iluvatar’s abominable “gift” limiting his years. There are less competent Maia, certainly. Not weaker ones, but that’s fine. After all, _Celebrimbor’s_ power is not of the essence.

No, it’s not for deceit’s sake that he diligently works for Celebrimbor’s advancement. He seeks only to make Celebrimbor, already in decent condition, better-ordered and more efficient. Some murmur against his revisions, and speak nonsense about the lord of Eregion turning cold, his policies harsh and unyielding, and his long-term vision for his realm inscrutable. But these are the envious fools who always mutter such nonsense - who did even back in Valinor, when... No, he will not think of that. They were in the past, and his gaze remains always toward the future.

It’s not even a lie, to say that he is doing this all for Celebrimbor’s own good. It’s not even a lie when he warns of the short-sighted, yet admirably grandiose, ambitions of the Numenorians, and hints they might one day pose a greater danger to Eregion than the machinations of what remains of the Enemy. (Indeed, it’s not a lie - those machinations seek not the ruin of Eregion. Quite the contrary.) It’s not even a lie when he explains to Celebrimbor the importance of the Rings for neutralizing potential troublemakers, their strategic value over the centuries to come, and the essential nature of keeping certain properties of their operation initially undisclosed, though the bearers would discover them in short order. It’s not even a lie when he expresses his delight that Celebrimbor understands, however reluctantly, and gives assent to the plan. His labor of centuries is bearing fruit: soon Celebrimbor will be an elf to whom he doesn’t have to lie at all.

(It’s not even a lie, then, when he softly smiles at Celebrimbor and tells him that he loves him, with all the sighs and caresses and sweet nonsense that follow.

After all, what could be more natural than for a craftsman to love his work?)

**Author's Note:**

> As for what Sauron gets out of this... the comedic answer is ‘he’s a hard sub who doesn’t know what to do with himself if he’s not working in another’s service’. For a serious answer, I have disorganized thoughts and fanon notions about Sauron’s perfection of technique but fundamental creative sterility, which leaves him eternally contemptuous of the imperfections of others while simultaneously being compelled to seek them out in order to gain, through service and imitation, the purpose and meaning for his life which he is completely incapable of devising on his own. ...so basically the comedic answer, but with more words.
> 
> Anyway, hope it was interesting.


End file.
